Entrepreneurship is in the air. College graduates (or dropouts) are hysterically running after breakthrough ideas which can make him/her the next millionaire. Moreover, investors are going gaga over this bunch of millennials. After all, there’s nothing wrong about it. I believe, what is important is not how quirky your idea is but the way you implement it. And most importantly, how emotionally connected you are with the problem you are trying to solve. That’s what makes them persist with their venture during some hard times. I keep wondering that how many of them will become the coveted brands of the future. Keep reading. Here the six things you must have to become the next big brand.

Empathy with intense passion

I’ve heard people say that a start-up founding team must have a passion for the problem they’re solving. Agreed. But that’s only the basic thing one will need to succeed as a company. If you want to stand out as the next big brand, you need to have empathy for all the people for whom you’re in the business. Just compassion is not enough you have to have empathy for every single person who’s facing the same plight that you faced once. No matter if the individual is your potential customer or not. That’s the only reason, Google is also known as God today. In their initial days, they just wanted to make online search effective. So, your mission should be as simple as that.

A team with a shared goal

No startup is going to be a winner without its full-fledged zealous team of the partners in crime. An effective team hasto be driven by the same ideology. I understand it’s really tough to find people with equal empathy as you do. That’s why I deliberately used the word ‘passion’. The most important thing is to have a team that is enthusiastic about doing something quirky and meaningful. The mismatch in the ultimate goal of the team members is a thing you must be worried about. They should be with you to be a part of the meaningful journey you’re on, and not just because your idea seems to be a breakthrough one.

That’s what Zappos.com is all about. Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, has stated that he was not happy with his first company, which he sold to Microsoft for $265 million. The mistake he made was to try and build a company culture too late. With Zappos, he didn’t want to make the same mistake and established the company culture at the very beginning.

Make people aware of the problem you’re solving

Most of the times, you need to make people aware of the problem you’re solving. I don’t know, whether you call it marketing or not. But you need to make them realise that the problem is already out there. Sometimes, people are so entangled with the conventional way of doing things that they don’t see that there is something wrong with it; or there could be an easier way of going about it. At the same time, you need to do it as innovatively as possible.

Look at the way Airbnb has revolutionized the way people used to travel and rent rooms or apartments. Who had ever imagined that travelling to completely new places could be so exciting and effortless!

Investors with the same DNA

I don’t consider investors, VCs, and accelerators different from team members. No matter what role your stakeholder is playing in your expedition, they have to believe in the purpose of the startup and feel enthusiastic about being a part of it. We often get to hear about the public altercations between the VC and the CEO. Thus, I would suggest you to be equally cautious about choosing culturally-fit VCs just as you are while choosing a co-founder or a team member.

Of course, VCs would be worried about the revenue model and profitability of your venture, but they should not be worried as far as you are making a difference in the lives of your users/customers/potential customers. Make sure what exactly they’re interested in.

Put yourself in your users’ shoes, always

Before you plunge into your start-up, you always put yourself in other people’s shoes (I presume!). But later, you become so involved with your daily chores that you become unaware of the changing perceptions of your users. Therefore, wherever you go, keep asking people about how they feel about the product or service you provide and what advancement do they expect in the future. Meet as many new people as possible and ask for feedback.

Networking is not enough. Ask, listen, think, and ask yourselfif you believe in it, then make appropriate changes, and then repeat the whole thing again. In this rapidly changing world, it’s necessary to be constantly updated with the opinions of users. From their experiences, you have to gauge where this world is heading. I won’t say that you should not be bothered about what your competitors are doing. But, you know what you should be focused on.

Decide what you (firmly) stand for

Last, but not the least at all, is what exactly you stand for. You, along with your team should be crystal clear about what you guys are about. Think about Apple, Google, or Starbucks, and your mind will clearly distinguish these brands from their competitors (if any!). It is just because they are clear about what they stand for. Moreover, they stood on it firmly and delivered the values they believed in. Today’s startups are desperate about getting funded and being in the billion-dollar valuation race. That is why, in most of the startups, this is easier said than done! Taking a stand is what differentiates great startups from the mediocre ones.

There was a buzz about the latest social network, Ello. People are going frenzy about this brand new social network because it is the only ad-free social network who is promising their users a forever-ad-free social networking experience. Though, all the beloved social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. came out as an ad-free but ended up providing ads and using customer databases for targeted adverts.

My belief, backed by these five reasons, says that Ello is paving the way for a new era of social media platforms. Here are some of the attributes of Ello and other social networks which are going to rule the roost in future.

1 – No Ads Ever

Of course, this is what Ello stands for. It is their USP. Here is what they say, ” Ello doesn’t sell ads. Nor do we sell data about you to third parties.” Ello became a USA Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), making it virtually impossible for Ello to ever sell ads or user data. Ello’s PBC’s written agreement states that Ello:

Will never sell user-specific data to a third party;

Won’t enter into an agreement to display paid advertising on behalf of a third
party; and

And in the event of an acquisition or asset transfer, the Company shall require
any acquiring entity to adopt these requirements with respect to the operation of
Ello or its assets.

Then how will they earn the revenue? Ello is building something like App Store. Basic version will include all the features other networks are providing. All of those features are free forever but if you want to enhance Ello, you need to pay extra bucks. You would be able to customize Ello to you. Therefore, it’s good that
people can use it then fall in love with it and then be impelled to buy extra features of it.

2 – Organic Engagement

Whatever social network you use right now, there are no parameters by which a user (Not the admin) can say that one is performing well because of their engagement efforts or just because they’re spending ton of bucks to promote their posts and pages. Audience cannot differentiate between organic followers/likes and the paid ones. Engagement is the buzz word in social media, and user engagement will be most relevant with ‘no-ad’ Ello. Because, the most engaging and relevant content will win the hearts of the followers. Only more engagement will lead to more followers.

3 – Noise/Friends

The most important and unique feature of Ello is, you can follow people in two segregated way. One is Noise, in which you can follow all the random profiles like magazines, news, celebrities, brands etc. And another one is as Friends. I totally loved this feature. Because I’m kind of an information junkie person (we all are), and I just cannot stop myself from liking/following any interesting page I stumbled upon. Therefore, my walls on Fb, Twitter and Instagram are full of profiles of brands and magazines. Hence, I always end up missing the posts of friends, which is quite annoying for both of us. Although, Facebook provides a feature using which you can Star your friends, you get a notification whenever they post anything.

Similarly, Twitter also provides a feature of customizing groups. Still, it was not the best solution to the problem. I believe this feature of Ello surely is.

4 – Fb-Twitter-Instagram

A benefit of entering late into a field is you can learn from your competitors’ mistakes. And adopt their positive aspects as well. That’s exactly what Ello is doing. Ello is embracing unique and useful features of all three beloved social networks, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. When you open Facebook, it looks messed up, so many things on one single screen. USP of Twitter is, they don’t have Real Name Policy. Instagram‘s UI is more user-friendly for pictures than FB and Twitter. If we look at the statistics, a post with a picture is more engaging than a simple text one. Ello has embraced all of them.

5 – Minimalistic UI

Ello is simple, beautiful and ad-free. That’s what they say, and it really is. I’ve fallen in love with its UI. I have always believed in ‘less is more’. Ello is in beta as of now. It has limited features right now. But I’m sure it’s going to be simpler, no matter what features they add in future. Ello is conceptualized by a team of three
people, comprising two graphic designers and one computer programmer. CEO Paul Budnitz, a designer, lifetime cyclist, artist, and author. The proud designer also owns a bicycle company, Budnitz. A competitive edge Ello has is its core team comprises graphic designers who understand simplicity. Ello has simple snow
white UI. I would say Ello has the potential to become ‘Apple’ of social networks. In a nutshell, Ello exists for your benefit, not just to make money.

]]>https://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/12/23/how-ello-is-revolutionizing-the-future-of-social-networking/feed/2ellokavishsEllo-Social-NetworkEllo-Social-NetworkE-commerce Marketing Warfare: Everything You Need To Knowhttps://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/e-commerce-marketing/
https://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/e-commerce-marketing/#commentsWed, 08 Oct 2014 19:03:44 +0000http://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/?p=305]]>The big e-commerce battle has already begun. E-commerce giants are playing ambush marketing tactics to belittle one another. Even a brick-and-mortar retail giant has also plunged into this marketing warfare. We have witnessed all these in last few days. Here’s a detailed analysis of the ongoing marketing mudslinging and let us figure out who is coming out as a winner and who is behaving as an opportunistic wannabe.

Snapdeal was the one who started the bout. It’s when the whole nation saw frontpage print ad of Flipkart’s Big Billion Day Sale, on 6th October in leading newspaper TOI. Flipkart had been campaigning about their biggest-sale-ever in India from last few days. People were really excited and were expecting a lot from this sale. It’s because Flipkart has spent millions of rupees for making this momentum among its customers. Suddenly, Snapdeal came into the game and attacked Flipkart by taking the place just beside the Flipkart’s advert in the newspaper on the same day. Their ad says, “For others, it’s a big day. For us, it’s no different. Best savings. Gauranteed. Check Snapdeal before you buy.” That’s commendable. Not just because they ambushed Flipkart, but because they ambushed them with a genuine and valid point. If you are a frequent e-commerce buyer, you must know that Snapdeal offers products at lower prices than Flipkart on any regular day.

Furthermore, Flipkart could not able to manage the enormous traffic and had numerous glitches on their platform on this biggest sale of the nation. From overpricing the products to automatically cancellation of the ordered products. All these things led customers to log on to their competitors, Snapdeal and Amazon. These competitors were also the biggest winners of this Big Billion Day, ironically, they were not the ones who organized it. Amazon also played very well by acquiring the domain name, BigBillionDay.com, which redirected the users to their website, Amazon.in. Additionally, Amazon also seemed to have bought the keyword flipkart for the day, as amazon advertisements appeared on pages that had the keyword flipkart. So every website that displayed Google ads, automatically got amazon ads to show up on pages that had the keyword flipkart. Aha! Amazon implemented this amazing idea very amazingly.

Therefore, Flipkart’s biggest day also became biggest profitable day for its competitors, too. Reportedly, they sold products worth of $100 million (600cr rupees) on that day. But, they also attracted a lot criticism from disappointed customers, who eventually reacted on social media platforms. Nevertheless, they claimed that their website got more traffic than Facebook in India and that their mobile app usage exceeded that of Whatsapp in India, which is quite exciting for them. Additionally, Flipkart’s founders, Sachin and Binny Bansal, circulated a detailed apology letter to all its customers. I must say, it was very well crafted, humble and looked as they have taken the responsibility for their online gaffe. I was also very much disappointed by Flipkart’s online debacle. The moment I read the letter from the founders, my brand perception got completely rejuvenated. That is the power of a genuine and humble apology. It looked as if a good old friend is apologizing for inadvertently hurting his friend. That is what gave Flipkart a human touch. Have a feel of the letter. On the next day, Kishor Biyani led Future Group, which is a leading FMCG group of the country, jumped into the war and tried to leverage out of the ongoing battle. But in my opinion, it does not work. Because, they were not the first one to attack Flipkart, they followed Snapdeal, which projected them as an emulator. Because their ad was quite similar as Snapdeal. They behaved like a wannabe. Have a look of their print ad.

This Big Billion Day turned out to be a biggest day of course for Flipkart, for making massive sales in just one day. For Snapdeal, for successfully getting an excellent mileage without spending much on ads. And undoubtedly for Amazon, for making big sales on competitor’s biggest day, and also for taking ‘free lessons’ from Flipkart about what ‘not-to-do’ on their own biggest sale, which has been started from Oct 10 to 16.

In the end, Snapdeal similarly targeted Amazon’s sale, too. It again took the immediate next page to the Amazon’s ad writing just the hashtag, ‘#CheckSnapdealToday’. Wow! Snapdeal has very well understood the nation’s affection for social media and they cleverly leveraged it. Snapdeal is the one who deserves praises for successfully ambushing both his competitors. At the same time, they should also make sure that it shoud not be done continuously. Otherwise, in customers’ mind their positioning will be as a market challenger or a follower and not as a leader.

Please feel free to share your thoughts. I would be glad if you give me your feedback in comments.

]]>https://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/e-commerce-marketing/feed/8ecommercekavishsAmazon Vs. Flipkart Vs. SnapdealIMG_269683019009182.jpegScreen-shot-2014-10-08-at-AM-01.18.39-1024x478-1-1.pngIMG_269359541731637-1.jpgSnapdeal Amazon FlipkartGetting into the shoes of Brand Manager of LG Smartphoneshttps://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/getting-into-the-shoes-of-brand-manager-of-lg-smartphones-in-india/
https://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/getting-into-the-shoes-of-brand-manager-of-lg-smartphones-in-india/#respondFri, 26 Sep 2014 18:14:34 +0000http://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/?p=291]]>If I ask you to make me a list of smartphones you would like to buy, will your list include iphone? For sure! Will your it include Samsung? Most probably. Will that list include MotoG? Could be. Will it include Xiaomi? Why not?! But will that list include LG? Chances are less, very less. Let’s figure that out together.

In my opinion, LG has done very good marketing for themselves. They have done a commendable positioning in the customers mind. You must be thinking that I’m nuts! But believe me, it’s true. The only problem is, they have positioned themselves amazingly well for electronic appliances. That’s why they have positioned themselves as a sophisticated and serious brand. They are not as ‘cool’ and ‘young’ as Apple. That’s a flipside of a strong mind positioning. LG probably have worked really hard to achieve this status. It’s a downside of branding.

Seemingly, they are not amazingly well with its smartphone market. Are LG smartphones not good enough or do they have any glitches? Nope, the answer lies in doing repositioning. They need to undergo series of marketing strategies to tackle this loophole. Firstly, they need to do something to spur the sales of their smartphone market. For that they need to do various Sales Promotions like Apple does with cash rebates and exchange schemes.

It is very important to increase the marketshare, which will eventually increase brand visibility. It’s very important that people see handsets in other people’s hands, so that people can ask about the feedback. That will increase the word of mouth, which is, I think, one of the most useful marketing strategy.

Therefore, it is the repositioning, that is the key to improve LG’s sales figures in India.

]]>https://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/getting-into-the-shoes-of-brand-manager-of-lg-smartphones-in-india/feed/0LGkavishsLG SmartphonesGuerrilla Marketing By Indian Ecommerce Giant Flipkarthttps://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/guerrilla-marketing-done-by-indian-ecommerce-giant-flipkart/
https://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/guerrilla-marketing-done-by-indian-ecommerce-giant-flipkart/#respondThu, 25 Sep 2014 08:44:42 +0000http://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/?p=285]]>Fist of all, let’s understand what exactly Guerrilla Marketing is. It is an advertising strategy that focuses on low-cost unconventional marketing tactics that yield maximum results. The term was inspired by guerrilla warfare which is a form of irregular warfare and relates to the small tactic strategies like ambushes, sabotage, raids and elements of surprise used by armed civilians. Much like guerrilla warfare, guerrilla marketing uses the same sort of tactics in the marketing industry. This alternative advertising style relies heavily on unconventional marketing strategy, high energy and imagination. It generally makes relatively higher amount of impression than traditional methods of marketing.

Here, I would like to draw an example of Guerrilla marketing by now an ecommerce giant in India, Flipkart. They started with selling books online, that too on big discounts. As, India was a conservative country, and people were apprehensive about making payments online. Additionally, plastic card penetration in India were very slow. People do not even blindly trust their regular grocery store shopkeeper, then how one expect them to trust an inanimate website and buy the product without even having a feel of it.

Notwithstanding all the odds, Flipkart undertook a series of campaigns to make people of India feel free to shop online. They gave extraordinarily fast delivery services. They provided hefty discounts even on new arrivals. Moreover, they provided 30 days return policy, in which customer can return the product within the 30 days of buying it.

Flipkart’s reported sales were 40 million in FY 2008–2009, 200 million in FY 2009–2010 and 750 million for FY 2010–2011. In FY 2011–2012, Flipkart is set to cross the 5 billion (US$100 million) mark as Internet usage in the country increases and people get accustomed to making purchases online. Flipkart projects its sales to reach 10 billion by year 2014. On average, Flipkart sells nearly 20 products per minute and is aiming at generating a revenue of 50 billion (US$0.81 billion) by 2015. (Wiki)

In short, they just made the people of India believe that Ecommerce is no alien at all. They made people of India accustomed to Ecommerce to that extend, that they’re now in love with Ecommerce!

]]>https://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/guerrilla-marketing-done-by-indian-ecommerce-giant-flipkart/feed/0Guerrilla-Marketing-flipkartkavishsEthics and morals in Contemporary Marketinghttps://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/ethics-and-morals-in-contemporary-marketing/
https://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/ethics-and-morals-in-contemporary-marketing/#respondThu, 14 Aug 2014 11:40:02 +0000http://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/?p=276]]>Yesterday, in my lecture of Marketing Management my faculty was elaborating what exactly Marketing is all about. As it was only second lecture of ours of the curriculum of MBA program. He was sharing his personal experience of the days when he was a Sales Exec. of an electronic store. He elaborated that how he convinced a customer to buy product ‘X’ on one day, and convinced the same guy to buy product ‘Y’ on the next day. Of course, he could not recognize the customer. But unfortunately, customer recognized him and asked to tell him the truth. Consequently, he told the truth. But than he warned us, that good old days are gone. You cannot be moral any more. In this cutthroat competitive world, if one needs to survive, than he/she has to become cunning. He also said, “gone are the days of ethics and morality in the field of Marketing.”

If you ask me, I would say, “gone are the days of marketing without ethics and morality.” That’s what I feel. We can see all around, how brands are doing Social Marketing and making people aware about the reality of their products. In this information driven, highly skeptical world, every one is aware about the gimmicks companies are doing. And if they aren’t aware about it in present, they will find it soon, anyway.

Nowadays, it is very important to win the trust of the customers. Everyone out there knows that the company is marketing their product and persuading the audiences to buy it. They know that companies advertise to make us buy what they are providing. Therefore, consumer isn’t much concerned about how much your company is spending on advertising and which celebrity have you signed as your brand ambassador. I’m not saying that it is completely irrelevant which celebrity you have signed. But, my point is it will be completely irrelevant if you won’t be able to stand on your claims and integrity. And if you want to have an edge against your competitors, you have to play some tactics.

It promotes qualitative benefits to its customers, which other similar companies, products or services fail to recognise. The concern with ethical issues, such as child labor, working conditions, relationships with third world countries and environmental problems, has changed the attitude of the Western World towards a more socially responsible way of thinking. This has influenced companies and their response is to market their products in a more socially responsible way.

Assembly election is round the corner in India. And politicians are provoking people to do communal discrimination for the sack of their vote banks. Consequently, now people of India are aware about their gimmicks. People want to break shackles of discrimination and want to integrate for the greater tomorrow. This latest advertisement of Ambuja Cements has grabbed this opportunity to instigate people to think over it.

In my opinion, advertisements are meant to give you goosebumps! It should be instigating, joe dropping, and eye-opening. Otherwise, it isn’t going to affect the audiences. Whatsoever your product is. After all, you’re taking your viewers’ precious time which they spend in watching your advertisements. Therefore, you should give your audience something to cherish, something to think, something to be compassionate about. Advertisements must instigate people to help make this world a better place to live.

]]>https://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/advertisements-are-meant-to-give-you-goosebumps/feed/1breaking_down_walls_by_regus_ttef-d6tn8lokavishsWhy it is most important not to utter a word about it in Brandinghttps://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/03/29/why-is-it-most-important-to-not-utter-a-word-about-it-in-branding/
https://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/03/29/why-is-it-most-important-to-not-utter-a-word-about-it-in-branding/#respondSat, 29 Mar 2014 10:05:55 +0000http://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/?p=255]]>People always do a lot advertising and so-called branding, and spend millions of dollors for the same. But one most important secret I came across before few days. It came into my cognizance by simple course of reasoning. The same reasoning I would love to share with you, too.

Ask yourself, what are the things you deeply believe in? Are those the things which were told by someone to you or the things which were felt by you? I’m sure, those are the things which were experienced by you on the first hand, right! And most importantly, what if someone out there had already told you about it at the first place? Surely, it wouldn’t have made the same impact. It’s same with the Branding. Ditto! The products, the services, or the people you meet are making an impact on your subconscious mind and when you experience something unexpected on your first confrontation, it makes a long lasting impression on your subconscious.

In a nutshell, you can position your Brand as per your requirements and give it eye-catching logos and taglines. But one thing you need to make sure is- ‘Never utter a word about what you stand for’. Because, once you tell them about what exactly you guys stand for, it won’t make the perpetual impact any more. Your product won’t be able astonish them. Therefore,The first confrontation of your brand should make an astounding effect!

Few days back, we all heard about the famous acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook. People all over the globe started talking about WhatsApp and its benefits. Undoubtedly, it has plenty of advantages, and it is one of the best messaging Apps we have ever come across. Notwithstanding its popularity, I would like to put myself into Zuckerberg’s shoes, and figure out five most critical things to revive WhatsApp.

1.Last seen: First of all, the main downside of WhatsApp is Last Seen. It’s not exactly the disadvantage, but it’s a matter of personal preference. Some people don’t like it, because they just want to ignore talking to perticular people. I would like to share one instance. One friend of mine didn’t like to use WhatsApp because he didn’t want to show the world that how long he talked with his girlfriend last night.

2.Group Notifications: As WhatsApp is very popular nowadays, so there are plenty of groups for different types of relationship you share with the people. For example, there are groups for family, friends, close friends, casual friends, colleagues or even for acquaintances! One would not want to waste his precious time in their everyday talks. After all, different people will get free at different time. Moreover, notifications will be quite disturbing and irritating at times.

3.No security: The most important thing is, there’s no security. It is in terms of privacy, like no one has to ask you for viewing your photo and status. Everyone who has your number can easily keep track of you. Which is quite snoopy. That’s the main reason behind people preferring BBM over WhatsApp.

4. Don’t be evil: In my opinion, there should be an option for getting notifications on the status bar of my phone. Because, it’s very frustrating to see the WhatsApp symbol when I’m really busy doing something important. Therefore, I’m sure there are some people out there, like me, who dont want to see its notifications. So, WhatsApp should stop enticing people, and walk on the path of Google.

5. Stay Simple: Mark Zuckerberg should make sure that it should always remain as simple as possible, unlike Facebook. After all, USPs of WhatsApp are simplicity and seamless communication. I’m optimistic, as Zuckerberg has given assurance to Jan Koum that it will remain ad-free.

I’m really convinced that WhatsApp is one of the best in its class. We will keep admiring you guys. Keep up the good work!

]]>https://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/03/09/5-things-mark-zuckerberg-should-make-sure-to-overhaul-whatsapp/feed/0mark-zuckerberg-qa-colombiakavishsFackbook Acquires WhatsApp For $16 BillionEffective ways to make a strong personal brandhttps://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/02/22/effective-ways-to-make-a-strong-personal-brand/
https://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/2014/02/22/effective-ways-to-make-a-strong-personal-brand/#commentsSat, 22 Feb 2014 19:59:02 +0000http://brandingbuff.wordpress.com/?p=235]]>Today’s cutthroat competitive world, it is important to make a strong personal brand. I think, nowadays, the only thing which is making more impact than your organization is your personal brand. I have a fair argument to bolster my inference. The way in which the great personalities like Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bozzo influence people and their opinions is the evidence of my synthesis. At times, as was the case with Steve Jobs rejoining Apple in its downfall as an Interim CEO, peronal brand helps in building your company’s Brand. So, let us find out the five most effective ways to make an influential personal brand.

Self belief:

First and foremost thing you should develope is to have trust in yourself. You must have to be confident about yourself. Otherwise, how will others be able to piggyback on your ideas and beliefs. More importantly, never be insecure about yourself and don’t try to compare yourself with others.

Do What You Say:

Secondly, you need to become a man of your words. You cannot be ambivalent about what you say and what you do. You need to learn to keep your words. It doesn’t mean that you always have to keep your promises, no matter what your circumstances are. If it’s tough to do so, make them believe that you tried your best to stand by your words. And if possible consolidate them in possible and appropriate way.

Be Laconic:

As per my opinion, this is a very important thing to make sure about. You should be known as a man of few words. I’m not at all advocating about being an introvert. Powerful people are always being ambivert. I’ve heard people saying that you have to be gregarious to become a people’s person. However, I don’t agree to it. People who are lack of excellence need to talk a lot and impress others. It is a beacon of mediocrity. People with excellence don’t do that. Powerful people always know their worth. Additionally, they never feel insecure of what they are.

Modestly Ostentatious:

Shakespeare said, “Have more than you show, say less than you know”. If you say what you’re going to do, it won’t make much impact. Because only an underdog will make people go crazy about you. Therefore, don’t say everything you know. Make people speculate about you, it’ll make them curious. Sometimes, people don’t like geniuses. They feel insecure about themselves, make them believe that you’re one of them. Then only they will listen to what you’re saying.

Charisma to inspire:

One of the most importan characteristic is to have a charismatic personality that can inspire people. Inspire them to believe in themselves. That can instigate them to bring out their hidden potential. People around you should feel good and positive about themselves and they should never inferior to you.

These are the traits one true leader should have in oneself. Although, it’s not a cake walk to make a strong personal brand. You always have to give more than what you take from people. Moreover, always inspire them to be tough , positive and dream big.